Researchers at the Field Robotics Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have designed a new lunar rover capable of being both a full scientific research platform and a drilling platform. Designed to operate in wildly changing terrain, drive ...
Huge Supernova Baffles Scientists
Scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and San Diego State University have observed an explosion of a star 50 times larger than the sun. In what they call a “first observation of its kind” the scientists were ...
Ares Super-Chute Tests
NASA and the United States Air Force have successfully tested a new super-chute system aimed at reclaiming reusable Ares booster rockets. On February 28, 2009 a 50,000 pound dummy rocket booster was dropped in the Arizona desert and stopped by ...
Harder than Diamond
Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have calculated that compressed lonsdaleite (also called a hexagonal diamond) is 58% harder than a diamond. Traditionally, lonsdaleite has been rated between 7 and 8 on the ...
STS-119 Launches into Space…Finally
After several delays, including twice over the past week, the space shuttle Discovery has finally been launched into space. The spacecraft took off at precisely 7:43 p.m. EDT, embarking on the STS-119 mission, which will provide the International Space Station ...
Hot Atoms Can Freeze Images
Researchers from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have developed a method to eliminate the phenomenon of diffraction, which causes images imprinted on light rays and propagating in free space to lose their sharpness after a short distance. Their ...
NASA’s Kepler Telescope Launched Successfully
At precisely 10:49 p.m. EST, NASA’s “Kepler” telescope was successfully kicked off into space, embarking on a mission that the agency says “may fundamentally change humanity’s view of itself.” The telescope will search the nearby region of our galaxy for ...
Hydrogen Produced from Aluminum and Water
Scientists at Pennsylvania State University and Virginia Commonwealth University are producing hydrogen by exposing clusters of aluminum atoms to water. Rather than relying on the electronic properties of the aluminum, this new process depends on the geometric distribution of atoms ...
New Galaxy Formation Theory Proposed
Astrophysicists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have formulated a novel theory that takes issue with the prevailing view on the origin of galaxies. Their research, which was recently published in the journal Nature, concludes that the galaxies primarily formed ...
The Orbital Menace – Space Garbage
We have all heard about the challenges and dangers involved in space travel. Even though the space shuttle is equipped with the finest technology money can buy, and staffed with the best and most highly trained astronauts, nobody can guarantee ...